Café review: Georgina’s, Low Petergate, York

I feel it is only fair to declare a slight bias on behalf of Georgina’s café. I am a regular lunch customer – often taking friends in for tea and cake on a weekend.

As a food and history geek, the history of the building offers plenty of reasons to drop in. It was once home to one Thomas Gent from 1742-1778, owner of newspaper The York Mercury. A plaque pertaining to his work can still be found above a fireplace on the first floor.

Georgina’s work with the historical aspect of their building with a classic, timeless interior and a focus on helpful, friendly customer service.

The menu has a good range of options with many homemade cakes, lighter bites and larger meals such as the York burger and homemade chilli con carne – with most dishes coming in under £9.

Great British breakfast

The Great British breakfast, a la Georgina’s

For this review I decided to focus on their breakfast selection, having never sampled from this part of the menu before.

There is a balanced choice spanning from the simple buttered toast and preserves (£2.75) to the full on Great British breakfast (£7.95). I opted to go the whole hog with a pot of Yorkshire tea (£1.95).

The Great British breakfast certainly lives up to its name. With two sausages, two thick slices of bacon, black pudding, sauté potatoes, fried mushrooms, grilled tomato, fried egg and two slices of granary toast it will set up even the biggest appetite for the day ahead.

It arrived promptly and obviously freshly cooked. A quick chat with the waitress confirmed that their bacon and sausages are locally sourced and this showed in the quality.

I thoroughly enjoyed the meal, although it did almost out face me towards the end. Almost.

Pros and cons

Inside Georgina’s café

The staff are welcoming and prompt without making the customer feel rushed. They offer a gluten free menu and you can request their wi-fi password if you wish to access the internet over a cuppa.

The only negative aspect of a visit to Georgina’s is the lack of disabled access. The ground floor tends to fill quickly and sadly there is no way to access further seating without climbing the fabulously wonky stairs.

The toilets are also on the first floor. Whilst this is definitely a disadvantage, I think the age of the building offers adequate justification for the lack of downstairs facilities.